Belief And Frustration At Meribah And Jesus ' Statement Of Living Water

alludes to the Last Supper when Christ tells his disciples “Take, drink; this is my blood.”

The foundation of the Christian faith is cradled within truth of the virgin birth, life, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. As diverse as the world-wide Christian culture is, the truth in the birth and life of Jesus stands without border and language limitations. Just as each individual life story can be adapted to be relevant for a variety of audiences, the birth story of the Messiah was also. The Gospels of Matthew and Luke are an example of the well-rounded and diverse narration of the birth story of Jesus—Matthew’s narration spoke to the history of the Jewish people and Luke presented to the citizen of Rome.

Water.  It expresses its’ power in the form of hurricanes and flash floods.  It displays its gentleness, washing dirt off a child's scabbed knee.  Water has been used to quench the thirst of many longing throats; and it has been the cause of death to those who unfavorably crossed its path.  It possesses the power of total destruction, yet it holds the bases of all life.  Generally, water has symbolized cleanliness and renewal.  In the Bible, water was used in Baptism, cleansing the soul of original sin and offering a new life in the light of God.  Water in itself is a natural purifier, washing the dirt from our bodies. Water is a symbol of

The setting (John 5:1–5). “Some time later, Jesus went up to Jerusalem for the feast of the Jews. Now there is in Jerusalem near the sheep gate a pool, which in Aramaic is called Bethesda and which is surrounded by five covered colonnades. Here a great number of disabled people used to lie—the blind, the lame, and the paralyzed. For an angel went down at a certain season into the pool, and troubled the water: whosoever then first after the troubling of the water stepped in was made whole of whatsoever disease he had. One who was there had been an

Although Capernaum was Jesus' earthly headquarters, its citizenry ignored his prophetic pronouncements and even questioned Jesus' authority. Jesus responded thusly, "I tell you the truth, unless you can eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you." (John 6: 53) Many in the crowd, upon hearing this, "turned back and no longer followed him." (John 60: 61, 66)

Lets take the river as Jesus because it is abnormal and unusual for a river to run dry, and in fact Jesus is the cup that won't Run dry. But it is usual for a stream to run dry. We are in times of prophecy, gross darkness- recession, high exchange rate, non payment of salaries, low businesses- shall come upon the People, but the Lord shall be a light upon us with his Glory and Gentiles shall come into the brightness of our Shinning, even their kings, when God told us we shall be lenders to nations, this is what he

But here in the ordinance of the Lord’s house, first the washing of the feet, and then the partaking of the bread and wine, we have the greatest memorial in all history.” God has given such memorials as the rainbow and Passover to help His believers remember important events. The Passover as you may remember memorialized Israel’s deliverance from Egypt which was symbolized through the blood of the lambs on the door post. The rainbow symbolizes God promise that He will not destroy the Earth with floods again. It is a sign of a new beginning. The Lord’s Supper is a memorial of Jesus’ death which provided our deliverance from the bondage of sin. Jesus told His disciples “Do this in remembrance of me.” Observing this ordinance should make us more appreciative of the relationship we have with Christ because it will remind us about what Jesus has done and continues to do for us.

The elements of this practice equip the individual to perform this ritual in a successful manner and allow adherents to be disciples of the Lord in the Christian community. The use of water signifies the spiritual cleansing of the individual and reflects the discussion of rebirth through water in the Gospel of John - “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water” (3:5). The use of water also unifies the individual with the ministry of Christ as we take part in the same ceremony as him. The bible highlights the eternal connection established with the Christian community as the word stresses the importance of this practice. Furthermore, the white garment symbolises the pure and virtuous nature of this ritual and signifies the releasing from the chains of sin and being reborn into a new life with Christ. Pope Francis’ statement that the “people of God have become missionary disciples” highlights the communal aspect of baptism and its contribution to Christianity as a living tradition as it is the individuals moral duty to baptise non-believers and unite them with the Christian community. The Gospel of John reinforces this obligation and the importance of baptism for the individual and the community as a whole in “Go and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” (Mttw

The water she is using can no longer wash away her regrets and culpability. She cries, "Out, damned spot! Out I say!.... Hell is murky." (V.i.33-34) Thelologists agree that “the phrase ‘being born of water, [Biblical contect]’ is to mean to be born again, forgiven, and cleansed by means of water.”

The two books of the Bible, Matthew and Mark are alike in many ways, they do tell some of the same stories. On the other hand, if one takes a closer look there are small changes to the stories that bring a whole new meaning to the way that the story is told. I will focus on the stories of Jesus walking on water and the transfiguration of Jesus. In this paper, I will review the changes that Matthew made to the Gospel according to Mark. I will also explain the reasons why he may have made those changes and to what purpose those changes served.

The first of the seven miracles that John recounts is the turning of water into wine. John notes that this miracle marks the beginning of Jesus’ signs to His disciples and the world. Jesus and his mother are invited to a wedding during which the hosts run out of wine. When the servants come to Mary and tell

Jesus' decision to physically cast out the moneylenders from the temple stands as one of the most interesting events of his life, because it represents what seems to be the only moment in the Gospel narratives where he becomes visibly angry to the point of physical action. While one could argue that Jesus is frequently (and justifiably) angry with the disciples from time to time, this is the only moment that Jesus' anger moves him to physical force. Although the event is recorded in all four of the Gospels, this study will focus specifically on its rendering in Matthew, because when considered in the context of Matthew's larger narrative, one can see how Jesus' decision to cleanse the temple does not represent an aberration in either his character or theological message, but rather the natural culmination of Jesus' life and works prior to that point, and demonstrates a kind of revolutionary, anti-authoritarian element of Jesus' message of salvation that is all too often overlooked by Christians and critics alike.

Later he declared about Jesus, “I baptize with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.” (1:8)

Just as Christ was crucified and died, our submersion in water symbolizes us too dying with him. In turn, our removal from the water symbolizes our rebirth and connection with Christ giving us our first divine-human encounter. The depth of such an act clearly portrays how vital of a part cleansing of sins by way of water is important and used in our faith since the beginning of time and an example of initiation into Christ’s life. Water has, since the beginning of time, been used to symbolize cleansing and new beginnings and in turn a major reason why this sign is seen as such in the symbolic ritual.

The passage depicts a short scene in which Jesus attempts to explain the parable of the whale to the residents of a fishing village. He rambles his way through a roughly four hundred word spiel using colorful language and complex metaphors, which all seem to conflict with other metaphors he has used in the past. His explanation seems to get more complex as time goes on, ending the speech with “So water is a symbol of evil here, but only here, because my disciples and John’s are baptizing people all over the place and in those rituals water is the symbol of purity. So don’t get confused.” The villagers, all confused by his teachings, in turn take everything he says literally and he only further confuses their understanding of the world, making